YOUNGSTERS in East Lancashire will soon be going to lessons in their new Beacon Schools.

St Mary and St Joseph Catholic Primary, Bennington Street, Blackburn; Our Lady and St John RC High, North Road, Blackburn; and Turton and Edgworth CE Primary are included in a new wave of Beacon Schools, announced by Education and Skills Secretary Estelle Morris.

And a nursery school, Walton Lane in Nelson, is also included in the list of 425 new educational beacons, including 78 in the North-West.

Each will receive additional funding averaging £35,000 a year.

Ms Morris said: "Our priority is to build on the higher standards happening in our primary schools and spread best practice right across the secondary sector. These new Beacon Schools will help us to realise that aim by fostering a culture of innovation." The Beacon School initiative was launched by the Government in 1998 in a bid to raise overall standards of pupil performance and to close the gap between the best and worst performing schools.

Each of the new East Lancashire beacons has been identified as being among the best performing in the country. They represent examples of successful practice which should be brought to the attention of the rest of the education service, says the Government.

An independent study by the National Foundation for Educational Research has shown that Beacon Schools have raised their standards and have better teacher and pupil morale.

Ms Morris said: "These new Beacon Schools will foster a culture of innovation. We are maintaining the focus on assisting schools that are in the most disadvantaged and underachieving areas of the country."